Farewell to 2011 - Hello 2012!

And so I say farewell to another year
a year filled with
beauty . inspiration . happy moments . a few sad moments . gratitude . joy
wonder about this life that we're living . breathlessness . hope . dreams

I am surrendering to just being right here . and saying hello to a new year

May your year start in soft shades . appear prickly . yet be smooth . often open and unusual
and may you GROW through 2012 . become ever resourceful . remain ever reflective
continue ever reaching . stay ever amazed!

A watercolour sunflower on a textured back-ground by Kim Klassen

A Forest Path

Mixed Media - Coffee and W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm

The sound
Of silence

::

Multiple
Shades
Of green
And other hue

::

An
Approaching mist
Above a forest path
- Liam ó Comáin

Pippin, the Bushbaby

“Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit."
- Albert Schweitzer

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N watercolour in my Moleskine 200gsm Folio (A4) Nature Journal

This is Pippin, whom I was lucky enough to have in my life for a few weeks after I rescued him from children who were stoning him, as a result of which he lost the use of his left eye. After nursing him back to health, he spent a couple of weeks living in my indoor garden in my lounge, often bounding onto my shoulder for a snack. When I was satisfied that he had fully recovered, I released him in the thickets on the banks of the Magalies River, which was in the vicinity where I had found him. I just hoped and prayed that he had learnt a lesson about people and would stay out of reach of the children ...

I did this sketch from a photograph I took of him, as he NEVER sits still long enough to be able to sketch him!

Galagos, also known as bushbabies, bush babies or nagapies (meaning "little night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa and are almost exclusively seen only at night.

Christmas 2011 in Tarlton

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Lovely hot weather, a few clouds to keep the temperature just right, and a drive through the countryside on our way to have Christmas breakfast at the Magaliesburg Hotel (Gauteng, South Africa). What more could one ask for?!

Wishing you...

May your home be filled with the joy of family and friends this holiday season!

... the Best Festive Season ever!

Here's wishing all my Blogger friends and family the BEST festive season you've ever had and a stunning New 2012! A real cliché, but I can honestly say this year has flown the fastest I've known any year to do! One of the greatest gifts provided to us by the Universe is the gift of creation. And I've been honoured and inspired by meeting so many creative people this past year and it is something I'm truly grateful for....

Wishing you all a day filled with
wonderful things to be grateful for.